A Selfless Volunteer Who Never Asked For Credit, a Dolly Parton Tribute Surprise and More Than $600,000 In Hope Raised
Project Beacon Plans Its Most Important Move Yet
By Laura Landsbaum //
Project Beacon turned the Blue Magnolia events venue near The Woodlands into a land of opportunity. Dolly Parton surprise included. With more than $600,000 raised at its gala, chaired by Dr. Ann Snyder and CJ Haynes, adults with autism walked away the real winners.
“The work taking place here gives adults opportunities to continue growing, and gives families something equally important: confidence that their sons and daughters can have meaningful, connected lives with their own community,” Haynes says.
Project Beacon executive director Kelly Baughman found herself marveling at how much Project Beacon has grown since it started five years ago.
“Beacon Access Center is a place where adults with autism build skills, they form relationships, they discover their purpose, and they continue becoming more fully themselves,” Baughman says. “Five years ago, this was just an idea. Today, I’m proud to say it’s changing lives.”
Baughman makes it clear Project Beacon still has much further to go, though.
“Today, we are asking this community to help us transform the model of adult services and build what is next,” she says. “You can give, advocate and volunteer. You can become an employer or a community partner. You can sponsor. You can introduce us to other partners.
“You can help create a future that lasts a lifetime. As a parent, I hope and pray that my son has friendships, purpose, opportunity and a place where he belongs long after I’m gone. Every family deserves that peace of mind. Every adult deserves that future. The first five years proved what is possible. And the next five years can transform what is available for families across our community.”
The next step for Project Beacon is its most ambitious one yet: developing an integrated intentional residential community that incorporates the Beacon Access Center model of care. The idea is to create a place where adults with autism and other neurodiversities in The Woodlands area can not only access programs during the day, but ultimately have the opportunity to build a life and call a community home.
Montgomery County alone is home to 53,000 adults living with autism and related developmental disabilities, and many families are confronting the reality of aging caregivers and limited residential options. For families navigating long waitlists, limited resources and difficult-to-access state supported facilities, the future can feel uncertain and frightening.
Project Beacon’s vision is to offer another path. A place where adults can live, work, learn, play and build meaningful relationships with the support necessary to pursue the highest appropriate level of independence.
Dolly and The Difference Makers
Project Beacon annually celebrates a volunteer whose work has made a meaningful difference.
“This year’s honoree has been answering my calls unpaid for unpaid help since Project Beacon was little more than an idea,” Baughman notes. “He’s never needed a title. And he’s never waited to be asked twice. He simply sees what needs to be done and gets to work. My husband, Mark Baughman.”
Mark Baughman gets up early on Saturday mornings to help plan and carry out social enrichment events at the Beacon Access Center. He’s also served as a plumber, electrician, painter, locksmith, gardener, carpenter, and a furniture and assembly guru.
Nashville country music band The Dryes added to the uplifting tone of the night with their songs. The timing could not have been more fitting. The gala fell on what Montgomery County proclaimed Dolly Parton Day, and The Dryes surprised everyone with a performance of Parton’s iconic “9 to 5” hit.
The night’s live and silent auction kept the bidding high. Gala goers even had the chance to bid on original artwork from the adults with autism who Beacon serves.
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